ARK Investment Management LLC Sells 41,524 Shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

ARK Investment Management LLC decreased its position in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 494,827 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 41,524 shares during the quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $62,368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of AeroVironment during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in AeroVironment by 47.7% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 390 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. bought a new stake in AeroVironment during the second quarter valued at about $43,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in AeroVironment during the first quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, RiverPark Advisors LLC boosted its position in AeroVironment by 77.2% during the fourth quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC now owns 388 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AVAV opened at $149.28 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $135.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $125.94. The company has a quick ratio of 3.16, a current ratio of 4.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.64 and a beta of 0.42. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 52-week low of $88.24 and a 52-week high of $184.61.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $186.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.62 million. AeroVironment had a positive return on equity of 13.93% and a negative net margin of 15.14%. AeroVironment’s quarterly revenue was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 2.8 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at AeroVironment

In related news, SVP Melissa Ann Brown sold 1,000 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.77, for a total transaction of $176,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,339 shares in the company, valued at $2,181,165.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Melissa Ann Brown sold 1,000 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.77, for a total transaction of $176,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,339 shares in the company, valued at $2,181,165.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,913 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.00, for a total value of $350,079.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,310. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AVAV. Raymond James raised their price objective on AeroVironment from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 7th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $161.00 price target on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on AeroVironment from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $139.20.

About AeroVironment

AeroVironment, Inc designs, develops, produces, delivers, and supports a portfolio of robotic systems and related services for government agencies and businesses in the United States and internationally. It operates through Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (SUAS), Tactical Missile System (TMS), Medium Unmanned Aircraft Systems (MUAS), and High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite Systems (HAPS) segments.